Manchester City will not be forced into a fire sale of their top players if a two-year Champions League ban remains in place and could even benefit financially from their time out of Europe, according to a top football finance expert.
City, who are appealing against UEFA’s judgment to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, will lose tens of millions in revenue for each season outside the competition.
Manager Pep Guardiola and CEO Ferran Soriano are both confident City will be in the Champions League again next season.
And it is claimed that working within different Financial Fair Play rules in the Premier League will remove the need to sell players. ‘There would be no need for a firesale,’ the University of Liverpool’s Kieran Maguire told Sportsmail.
‘They will actually benefit from not being in Europe because FFP limits under UEFA are €30million losses over three years, compared to £105m under Premier League limits.’
Meanwhile, Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers has given up hope of being awarded City’s 2014 title after his Liverpool side finished runners-up.
He said: ‘It’s gone really. It won’t change anything. It doesn’t take away from what we did.’